The Brazilian city of Petrópolis again recorded heavy rains this Friday, three days after a historic storm that left at least 122 dead. and covered entire neighborhoods with mud, under which they still lay missing.
Back from his trip to Russia and Hungary, President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the city this Friday and briefly visited the devastated area, accompanied by several of his ministers.
“We saw intense destruction, an image almost of war,” Bolsonaro said, in remarks broadcast on television.
The president defended himself against criticism aroused by the tragedy, which occurred due to torrential rains in a mountainous area with precarious constructions.
“We cannot foresee everything that is going to happen in 8.5 million km2 (the surface of Brazil, ndlr). The population is right to criticize, but this is a rugged region, it is not the first time that a tragedy has occurred here. We are going to do our part,” he added.
In this former imperial city, located north of Rio de Janeiro, work is still being done by the piece, although the hope of finding victims alive is running out.
“There can be 50 people here”
Morro da Oficina, one of the hills in the Alto da Serra neighborhood, can be considered the epicenter of the tragedy. About 80 houses on that hill were buried by the force of the torrents of mud that dragged cars, buses with passengers and everything in their path.
“It may be that there are still more than 50 people down hereSince Tuesday, 98″ bodies have already been removed, explained Roberto Amaral, coordinator of the group specializing in natural disasters of the Civil Fire Brigade, to AFP, while soldiers and volunteers removed debris and dug with shovels and hoes in the mud in search of some trace of life
“We would like to finish as soon as possible, but here we have to work until the last one comes out,” he added.
In the morning, it rained heavily and the municipal authorities activated the sirens again. landslide risk warning. After noon the water gave a respite.
A city with “fear”
“Everyone is very scared. Any noise scares us. The whole city is like this,” Antenor Alves de Alcantara, a 67-year-old retiree, who moved with his relatives to a nearby hill, told AFP.
“It’s fine for the president to visit us, but it’s not going to change anything,” he added.
For his part, Pope Francis expressed “his condolences” and shared “the pain of all those who mourn or are stripped of their property.“, in a telegram in Portuguese sent to the Bishop of Petrópolis, Gregorio Paixao Neto.
The disaster throws increasingly dramatic figures
For now there are 122 confirmed dead, 24 rescued and 849 displaced, while the figures for the disappeared are confusing due to the few identified bodies, which the state-run Agencia Brasil put at 57 this Friday. The Civil Police registered 116 missing, according to local media.
The federal government announced the release of a aid of 2.3 million reais (440,000 USD)while the Ministry of Regional Development indicated that it will provide new sums in the coming days.
On Thursday night, the rains returned with forcethe rescue tasks were suspended and residents of several neighborhoods were called to take shelter in the homes of relatives or public shelters.
At least two streets were closed and the residents evacuated preventively after a landslide of “rocky blocks”, which caused no injuries.
According to experts, the tragedy is the consequence of a combination of factors, among them a rain in six hours higher than the historical average for all of February, the topography of the region and the existence of large neighborhoods of precarious houses, many of them built illegally, in the steep risk areas.
The Brazilian city of Petrópolis again recorded heavy rains this Friday, three days after a historic storm that left at least 122 dead. and covered entire neighborhoods with mud, under which they still lay missing.
Back from his trip to Russia and Hungary, President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the city this Friday and briefly visited the devastated area, accompanied by several of his ministers.
“We saw intense destruction, an image almost of war,” Bolsonaro said, in remarks broadcast on television.
The president defended himself against criticism aroused by the tragedy, which occurred due to torrential rains in a mountainous area with precarious constructions.
“We cannot foresee everything that is going to happen in 8.5 million km2 (the surface of Brazil, ndlr). The population is right to criticize, but this is a rugged region, it is not the first time that a tragedy has occurred here. We are going to do our part,” he added.
In this former imperial city, located north of Rio de Janeiro, work is still being done by the piece, although the hope of finding victims alive is running out.
“There can be 50 people here”
Morro da Oficina, one of the hills in the Alto da Serra neighborhood, can be considered the epicenter of the tragedy. About 80 houses on that hill were buried by the force of the torrents of mud that dragged cars, buses with passengers and everything in their path.
“It may be that there are still more than 50 people down hereSince Tuesday, 98″ bodies have already been removed, explained Roberto Amaral, coordinator of the group specializing in natural disasters of the Civil Fire Brigade, to AFP, while soldiers and volunteers removed debris and dug with shovels and hoes in the mud in search of some trace of life
“We would like to finish as soon as possible, but here we have to work until the last one comes out,” he added.
In the morning, it rained heavily and the municipal authorities activated the sirens again. landslide risk warning. After noon the water gave a respite.
A city with “fear”
“Everyone is very scared. Any noise scares us. The whole city is like this,” Antenor Alves de Alcantara, a 67-year-old retiree, who moved with his relatives to a nearby hill, told AFP.
“It’s fine for the president to visit us, but it’s not going to change anything,” he added.
For his part, Pope Francis expressed “his condolences” and shared “the pain of all those who mourn or are stripped of their property.“, in a telegram in Portuguese sent to the bishop of Petrópolis, Gregorio Paixao Neto.
The disaster throws increasingly dramatic figures
For now there are 122 confirmed dead, 24 rescued and 849 displaced, while the figures for the disappeared are confusing due to the few identified bodies, which the state-run Agencia Brasil put at 57 this Friday. The Civil Police registered 116 missing, according to local media.
The federal government announced the release of a aid of 2.3 million reais (440,000 USD)while the Ministry of Regional Development indicated that it will provide new sums in the coming days.
On Thursday night, the rains returned with forcethe rescue tasks were suspended and residents of several neighborhoods were called to take shelter in the homes of relatives or public shelters.
At least two streets were closed and the neighbors evacuated preventively after a landslide of “rocky blocks”, which caused no injuries.
According to experts, the tragedy is the consequence of a combination of factors, among them a rain in six hours higher than the historical average for all of February, the topography of the region and the existence of large neighborhoods of precarious houses, many of them built illegally, in the steep areas of risk.
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